Straub an unlikely climate protector
Bruce Johnstone
The Leader-Post
Saturday, November 08, 2008
It's not often you hear senior oil company executives calling for more government regulation of greenhouse gas emissions.
But that's exactly what Brian Straub, president of Shell Canada, told a news conference Thursday to announce Shell's $5-million contribution to advance carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology at the University of Regina.
Straub said Shell envisions several different scenarios in which the world will deal with the conflict between rising energy demand and increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change.
At one end of the spectrum is the "scramble" scenario, in which "events outpace actions, and the greenhouse gases aren't seriously addressed until there is major climate shock,'' Straub said.
At the other end is the "blueprint'' scenario, which envisions a "world in which actions outpace events, and coalitions ... emerge to accelerate change.''
While recognizing that reality is likely to fall somewhere between these two "extreme" scenarios, Straub said Shell "by far prefers the blueprint scenario and believes that this outcome offers the best outcome for a sustainable future.''
Shell sees six different "pathways'' or solutions to the climate change-energy-crunch crisis; one of them is carbon capture and storage, another potential solution is public policy, Straub said.
CCS technology offers the promise of taking CO2 out of the emission stream of, say Shell's Scotford upgrader and refinery complex near Edmonton, and storing it in the ground.
Better yet, the CO2 could be used to increase recovery of hydrocarbons by injecting it into mature oil-bearing formations -- the environmental equivalent to having your cake and eating it too.
"The large volumes of GHG emissions reduction that could be realized by CCS make this technology a promising solution to address climate change in the near future.''
Straub said government must also play a critical role in reducing GHG emissions by industry.
"It often comes as a bit of surprise to hear a major oil company advocating more and better public policy guidance,'' Straub said. "But that's exactly what we're after.
"We believe the time for voluntary action is past and must be replaced by consistent government policy on a Canadian, North American and global basis.''
Straub, who worked as a petroleum engineer at Shell's Midale CO2 enhanced oil recovery project in the 1980s, is no bleeding heart, greener-than-thou environmentalist.
But even he sees that the time for "voluntary measures'' and "best-efforts'' to reduce GHG emissions has come and gone.
Straub's desire for a stronger, definitive regulatory regime for CO2 emissions is not motivated by his desire to save the planet from global warming.
Rather, it is borne by the businessman's desire for the proverbial level playing field in which everyone plays under the same rules.
"We believe now is the time for policy direction and regulation,'' Straub said following his formal remarks.
"The era of voluntary targets is behind us. We really need a level playing field globally that we all work under.''
And it appears as though the newly elected Harper government is finally listening.
In Prime Minister Stephen Harper's new cabinet, Tory attack dog John Baird has been replaced in the environment portfolio by the more conciliatory, less rabid Jim Prentice.
More importantly, Harper has sent out signals that he wants to work with the newly elected Obama government in the U.S. on some sort of environmental pact that would include a cap-and-trade system to reduce GHG emissions.
For a former climate-change denier, like Harper, that's a big step.
But when oil company presidents start sounding the alarm about the need for firmer rules and regulations around carbon emissions, can the Conservative government be far behind?
